Category Archives: Evolution

Details of duo of flaws in management portal made public weeks after fix

A severe unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability has been patched by developers of the Evolution CMS.

Evolution is a PHP-based, open source content management system (CMS) used to manage the backend of websites.

On February 8, cybersecurity firm Synactiv publicly revealed the existence of two security flaws in the CMS and how a blocked account can be exploited to perform an unauthenticated SQLi in Evolution CMS using the header.

Written by Synacktivs Nicolas Biscos and Thomas Etrillard, the security advisory (PDF) details an unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability on the Evolution manager login page.

Read more of the latest infosec research from around the world

This security flaw was caused by how the application processes SQL queries. If a user was to send crafted data, the query could be modified before landing in an Evolution database.

As the CMS logs actions in the manager interface and inserts data into a database, the IP field is not scrubbed properly, and so the header can be tampered with.

When an account in the manager interface is blocked, a particular function is called upon which can be exploited by an attacker without authentication to extract SQL database records.

A threat actor could also choose to trigger an account block, if they so choose, by issuing invalid login attempts.

The second bug found by Synactiv also stemmed from bugs in the management interface. In order to find out if an account exists, attackers can take advantage of behavioral changes during the authentication phase.

According to the researchers, you can determine the presence of a user based on the applications response time, and if an account does not exist, the full authentication process does not take place.

Combining the knowledge of an existing account, and blocking it on purpose, can then be used to trigger the SQL injection flaw.

Synacktiv told The Daily Swig that the time-based enumeration vulnerability is not very common, as this kind of bug depends on time and on the way the server handles it.

SECURITY DEEP DIVES Software supply chain attacks everything you need to know

The security issues have been fixed in Evolution versions 1.4.12, 2.0.4, and in 3.0.

The researchers submitted their findings to Evolution on December 21. The developer responded quickly and issued a fix on the same day.

Synacktiv said that the vendors choice to go public with details of the flaw weeks after its discovery was to give time to people to fix (and time for us to publish).

Evolution CEO Dmytro Lukianenko thanked the researchers for their findings and has urged all users to update their software.

RELATED WordPress 5.6 lands with new auto-update UI, Site Health enhancements

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Blocked accounts abused in Evolution CMS SQL injection attacks - The Daily Swig

It suggested that Homo sapiens were in China at least 20,000 years earlier than early modern humans had been previously believed to have left Africa and spread around the world. It also tantalizingly hinted at the possibility that a different group of early humans could have evolved separately in Asia.

Not so fast, says the science in 2021. New research published Monday has suggested perhaps we shouldn't be so eager to rewrite the time line on human origins.

DNA analysis of two human teeth found in the same cave, called Fuyan, plus teeth and other fossilized remains from four other caves in the same region, suggested that it was unlikely early modern humans were in China so early.

"Our new research means it is very unlikely that Homo sapiens reached China before 50,000 years ago. It is always possible that our species reached the region more than 100,000 years ago, but we would have to say that there is no convincing evidence in favor of this at present," said Darren Curnoe, an associate professor at the Australian Museum Research Institute in Sydney and coauthor of the paper that published in the journal PNAS on Monday.

The researchers were able to extract DNA from 10 human teeth and establish the age of other materials in the caves, such as charcoal and animal teeth, using a range of different methods. The team found that the teeth were at least 16,000 years old, while the other materials were less than 40,000 years old.

"The 2015 study relied heavily on the results of a single dating method which determined the age of cave materials (flowstone) lying above and below the sediments containing the human teeth," he said via email. Flowstone is a sheetlike deposit of rock formed by flowing water.

"It is well understood that the most reliable dates come directly from the materials of interest to archaeologists, in this case, the human teeth. Our new (dates), including direct ages, are far younger than previously suggested."

The 2015 study measured the radioactive decay of uranium within cave deposits, not DNA.

Chris Stringer, research leader for human evolution at the Natural History Museum in London, said that the dates of Chinese fossilized teeth had always stood out and it was right to investigate them further using different methods.

However, he said the study, while interesting, didn't definitively rule out early modern humans in China before 50,000 years ago.

Complex family tree

Untangling human ancestry is a complicated business, and recent research has indicated the human family tree is much more bushy and less linear than the traditional "Out of Africa" narrative, which suggested modern humans originated in Africa and made their first successful migration to the rest of the world in a single wave between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago.

Many different ancient hominins existed and coexisted before Homo sapiens emerged as the lone survivor, and there was interbreeding between different groups of early humans.

Some of these groups -- like Neanderthals -- are easily identified through the fossil record and archaeological remains, but others -- like the Denisovans -- have been largely identified by their genetic legacy.

Maria Martinn-Torres, director of the National Research Center on Human Evolution in Spain and an author of the 2015 study, said she welcomed the new data on the early presence of modern humans in China.

However, she noted that the two teeth from Fuyan Cave were uncovered in 2019 and didn't belong to the original sample her team studied and published in 2015.

"The precise data about the location and morphology of the sample is crucial, but it is not provided in the paper," she said.

"I agree that we should be working in improving the dates of all sites of interest, especially with direct dating when possible. However, at the moment, there is an increasing number of samples that would support the presence of H. sapiens outside Africa before 50 ka (50,000 years ago)," she said via email.

She noted that there are other discoveries in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Sumatra and Laos, and another site in China where a jawbone has been found, that support the presence of Homo sapiens outside Africa before 50,000 years ago.

One of the main factors supporting the idea that early modern humans left Africa around 50,000 years ago is that there is a strong signal in the genes of present-day human populations.

"We would say that Out of Africa after 70,000 years ago seems to be the dominant picture. We can't preclude earlier dispersals in other regions, but certainly southern China seems to have been settled in this Out of Africa wave after 50,000 years ago," Curnoe said via email.

However, Martinn-Torres said this doesn't rule out the possibility that earlier groups of Homo sapiens wandered around Asia earlier -- just as groups of other early humans like Neanderthals and Denisovans did.

"We had no expectations about the dating of these fossils and sites and would have been pleased if we had confirmed an early dispersal. It would certainly have made the history of our species much older than generally believed, and perhaps more interesting," Curnoe said.

"Sadly, this seems not to be the case, at the least for southern China, according to our work."

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Story of human evolution gets another rewrite with DNA analysis of Chinese teeth - CNN

In recent weeks there has been much talk about the governments Central Vista Redevelopment Project with the Supreme Court having cleared the final roadblocks.

The main elements of this project include the construction of a new Parliament building near the original one with increased seating capacity; replacing the North and South Blocks with a common secretariat to accommodate all central ministries; revamping the 3km Rajpath stretch between Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate; and repurposing older structures into museums, meeting halls and public-use areas such as cafes and restaurants.

Like most other matters, this project too has camps on both sides of the Masonic compass, an object that symbolises the inspirational roots of Edwin Lutyens. There are those who think that it is about time that we upgraded executive and legislative infrastructure and evolved with the times. On the other hand, there are those who decry the project as fixing what isnt broken and being wasteful. They also believe that it is insensitive to history.

But lets step back from the controversy for a moment to put the architecture of Lutyens Delhi in perspective. New Delhi is often compared to Paris and Washington DC, possibly owing to the similarities between New Delhis Central Vista, the National Mall in Washington DC and the Champs-lyses in Paris. But dig a little deeper into history and you would find that both these cities made substantial architectural changes to their arterial avenues to suit the times.

Washington DC was designed in 1791 by French engineer, Pierre LEnfant. He envisaged a grand avenue like the Champs-lyses that would be lined with trees and gardens and stretch across 1.6km between Congress House (now the US Capitol) and a statue of George Washington. But before LEnfant could implement his plan fully, Washington sacked him.

By the end of the 1800s, unplanned growth ensured that the National Mall became an odd mixture of public and industrial buildings, gardens, unkempt trees, and even the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station. This state of affairs continued until 1902 when a commission headed by senator James McMillan drew up a new plan for the Mall, albeit keeping LEnfants stated vision in mind.

The McMillan Plan doubled the size of the National Mall. It absorbed landfill areas that would accommodate the future Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The Washington Monument had originally denoted the western boundary of the Mall but it now became the very centre of it. Then the trees that covered the area between the Capitol and the Washington Monument were removed in the 1930s.

Even if you consider the Capitol building, it underwent many changes. It was completed in 1800, burnt down in 1814, and restored in 1819. But just 30 years later the building could no longer accommodate the rapidly increasing number of legislators from new member states. So the building was enlarged with the addition of a gigantic new dome. Two new wings were added that incorporated new chambers for the House of Representatives and the Senate. These additions more than doubled the length of the Capitol. The Capitol no longer resembled its parent.

Now let us turn to Paris, the other great city that New Delhi is compared to. The Avenue des Champs lyses runs 1.9km between the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe and almost defines Paris. But before the reign of Louis XIV, the area consisted of fields, swamps and kitchen gardens. In 1667, Andr Le Ntre was commissioned to lay out the Champs-lyses and its gardens as an extension of the Tuileries Garden. Le Ntre created a wide promenade between the palace and the present Rond Point lined with elm trees and flowerbeds.

By 1724, the avenue was extended, now leading beyond the Place de lEtoile. During the 18th century, stately mansions and buildings were built along the avenue. The lyse Palace, now the official home of the President of France, was built close by. From 1828 onwards sidewalks, gas lighting, pubs, cafes, restaurants, concert halls and theatres began to appear. In 1836, the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon, was completed towards the western end.

In 1855, a giant exhibition hall called the Palais de lIndustrie was constructed along the Champs-lyses. Spread over 30,000sqm, it was built to host the Exposition Universelle. Then this was knocked down to create the Grand Palais, a structure that is very different from the rest of the buildings in the area because of its glass, steel and reinforced concrete. Todays Champs-lyses is a commercial avenue lined by shops and cafes, completely alien to the stately residential area that it once was in the 18th century. And the mayor of Paris has now announced a 250 million makeover.

In fact, many of the greatest landmarks of Paris would never have been built if Parisians had voted for architectural continuity. A petition against the Eiffel Tower in 1887 said, Imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack. The Pyramide du Louvre was called an architectural joke, an eyesore, an anachronistic intrusion of Egyptian death symbolism in the middle of Paris, and a megalomaniacal folly.

We must accordingly see the Central Vista project as an earnest effort to modernise government infrastructure; to enhance legislative capacity; to create public use spaces such as museums and restaurants; and to evolve as all great cities must. And yes, argument and debate is part of that great process of evolution.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

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Evolution is always noisy: And upgrades are always needed in the great cities Paris, Washington, New Delhi - The Times of India Blog

LONDON, Feb. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ClarivatePlc(NYSE:CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today released a report that examines the organization of information in the global scientific community and introduces a flexible new data-driven approach to citation-based classification. The report showcases new technology, developed in collaborationwith the leading academic scientometrics team at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Entitled "Data categorization: understanding choices and outcomes", the report from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) outlines existing research categorical systems from around the world and the analytical consequences of applying them to national and institutional data. It introduces a new and highly innovative approach to data aggregation based on trusted research data in the Web of Science citation network. It also promotes the need for good practice in data management to improve knowledge, competency and confidence and to ensure the responsible use of research metrics.

The team's research found that a categorization scheme informed by article metadata is stronger than one arranged by human concepts, e.g., those which are journal-based, top-down and use expert input to split domains into related sub-categories. Instead, a citation-based classification of articles and reviews progressively links individual elements into larger units with shared characteristics based on features in the underlying data. This innovative approach demonstrated in InCites Citation Topics more accurately represents microclusters, or specialties, provides more uniform content and improves citation normalization. It also gives opportunity for novel groups to appear that were not previously possible with journal-based schemes.

Apart from its wide range of data selections, tests and visualizations, InCites provides multiple choices of top-down data classifications and now also offers Citation Topics as a bottom-up citation-based classification. The current implementation of Citation Topics is composed of 10 macro topics, 326 meso topics and 2,444 micro topics, with monthly and annual updating built in which will allow it to evolve over time.

Jonathan Adams, Chief Scientist at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate and a co-author of the report said: "There are clear strengths and weaknesses of the variety of classification systems currently available, and our aim in introducing Citation Topics is to promote good practice in data management as part of the responsible use of research metrics."

Ludo Waltman, Deputy Director at CWTS, Leiden University said: "Bottom-up citation-based classifications play a prominent role in many of the scientometric analyses that we carry out at CWTS. It is great to see that InCites users will now also be able to benefit from these powerful classifications."

Joel Haspel, SVP Strategy, Science at Clarivate said: "This new report highlights the evolving nature of data categorization. It addresses the way we recognize natural divisions of knowledge and research and how we categorize publications for discovery, analysis, management and policy.Being aware of the characteristics and limitations of the ways we categorize research publications is important to research management because it influences the way we think about established and innovative research topics, the way we analyze research activity and performance, and even the way we set up organizations to do research."

Notes for editors:

About ClarivateClarivate is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate the lifecycle of innovation. Our bold mission is to help customers solve some of the world's most complex problems by providing actionable information and insights that reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of science and intellectual property. We help customers discover, protect and commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For more information, please visitclarivate.com.

Media ContactRebecca Krahenbuhl[emailprotected]

SOURCE Clarivate Plc

https://clarivate.com/

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Clarivate Report Highlights Importance of Evolution in Data Categorization to Promote Responsible Research Metrics - PRNewswire

While much changed in 2020, it was largely business as usual for Great Outdoors Colorado, the lottery-funded arm pumping millions of dollars into parks and open spaces and conservation.

With $77.8 million invested across 101 projects in 34 counties, 2020 marked the 19th consecutive year the program born in 1992 met its constitutionally mandated cap, read a recent end-of-year report. (That cap is annually adjusted for inflation; it's set for $71.7 million for fiscal year 2021).

"Looking at the numbers, you might think 2019-2020 was a year like any other for Great Outdoors Colorado," executive director Chris Castilian wrote in the report.

Yet he considered the period GOCO's "most introspective and forward-looking work in years."

A 16-month strategic planning process "resulted in an evolution in our role as a funder," Castilian explained.

Before the pandemic hit and was followed by a racial justice awakening, GOCO had committed to a future with equity at the center. Grant-giving was restructured to better account for communities ill-equipped with matching capabilities. And by deciding to set aside certain sums of lottery revenues, GOCO set a course for more large-scale "legacy" projects "more projects with lasting benefits for future generations," Castilian wrote.

"[W]e couldn't have anticipated that our flexibility and community-centered approach would be tested so soon," he remarked.

The year saw GOCO establish the Resilient Communities grant program, dedicated to fill pandemic-caused shortfalls. An example was the $316,100 given to Colorado Springs' parks department to keep the Prospect Lake Beach House project on track. Another was the $456,646 awarded to the city and county of Denver to develop a youth-focused stewardship program at local parks.

GOCO's report mentioned high-profile, multi-year funded projects that reached milestones in 2020. They included Trinidad's Fishers Peak State Park, which opened a small portion for visitation in the fall. Sandstone Ranch, what Douglas County open space managers call their "crown jewel," also opened last year. And the report saluted the Palisade Plunge, a long-dreamed mountain bike trail on the Grand Mesa that completed construction before winter.

GOCO finished 2020 by announcing $1.3 million for the local grassroots mission to acquire a 10-acre peninsula on Lake San Cristobal in Lake City. Also in December, GOCO closed another $1 million project dedicated to Pitkin County in preserving Sunfire Ranch, described as "the largest ranch that remained unprotected in the Crystal Valley" and filling the gap in public land making up the 221,000-acre Thompson Divide.

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Great Outdoors Colorado celebrates 'evolution' year with high-profile projects realized - Colorado Springs Gazette

Geoscientists have released a video that for the first time shows the uninterrupted movement of the Earths tectonic plates over the past billion years.

The international effort provides a scientific framework for understanding planetary habitability and for finding critical metal resources needed for a low-carbon future.

It reveals a planet in constant movement as land masses move around the Earths surface, for instance showing that Antarctica was once at the equator.

The video is based on new research published in the March 2021 edition of Earth-Science Reviews.

Video showing the movement of Earths tectonic plates over the past billion years. Credit: Dr. Andrew Merdith/University of Lyon

Co-author and academic leader of the University of Sydney EarthByte geosciences group, Professor Dietmar Mller, said: Our team has created an entirely new model of Earth evolution over the last billion years.

Professor Dietmar Mller from the EarthByte group in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. Credit: Britta Campion

Our planet is unique in the way that it hosts life. But this is only possible because geological processes, like plate tectonics, provide a planetary life-support system.

Lead author and creator of the video Dr. Andrew Merdith began work on the project while a PhD student with Professor Mller in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. He is now based at the University of Lyon in France.

Co-author, Dr. Michael Tetley, who also completed his PhD at the University of Sydney, told Euronews: For the first time a complete model of tectonics has been built, including all the boundaries

On a human timescale, things move in centimeters per year, but as we can see from the animation, the continents have been everywhere in time. A place like Antarctica that we see as a cold, icy inhospitable place today, actually was once quite a nice holiday destination at the equator.

Co-author Dr. Sabin Zahirovic from the University of Sydney, said: Planet Earth is incredibly dynamic, with the surface composed of plates that constantly jostle each other in a way unique among the known rocky planets. These plates move at the speed fingernails grow, but when a billion years is condensed into 40 seconds a mesmerizing dance is revealed.

Oceans open and close, continents disperse and periodically recombine to form immense supercontinents.

Earth scientists from every continent have collected and published data, often from inaccessible and remote regions, that Dr. Andrew Merdith and his collaborators have assimilated over the past four years to produce this billion-year model.

It will allow scientists to better understand how the interior of the Earth convects, chemically mixes and loses heat via seafloor spreading and volcanism. The model will help scientists understand how climate has changed, how ocean currents altered and how nutrients fluxed from the deep Earth to stimulate biological evolution.

Professor Mller said: Simply put, this complete model will help explain how our home, Planet Earth, became habitable for complex creatures. Life on Earth would not exist without plate tectonics. With this new model, we are closer to understanding how this beautiful blue planet became our cradle.

Reference: Extending full-plate tectonic models into deep time: Linking the Neoproterozoic and the Phanerozoic by Andrew S. Merdith, Simon E. Williams, Alan S. Collins, Michael G. Tetley, Jacob A. Mulder, Morgan L. Blades, Alexander Young, Sheree E. Armistead, John Cannon, Sabin Zahirovic and R. Dietmar Mller, 24 December 2020, Earth-Science Reviews.DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103477

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A Billion Years in 40 Seconds: Mesmerizing Video Reveals the Evolution Our Dynamic Planet - SciTechDaily

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Enverus, the leading energy SaaS company, is inviting members of the media to EVOLVE, a virtual conference focused on the evolution of the energy industry and what to expect in 2021. During the Feb. 16-18 EVOLVE sessions, attendees will hear Enverus' analysts discuss their outlook on the oil and gas industry, the energy mix and investability, and a conversation around the acceleration of critical, industry-shifting topics like ESG to prepare for the future of energy.

"The energy industry is always in a state of transition and COVID-19 has only accelerated its evolution," said Manuj Nikhanj, president of Enverus. "Let's put the politics and rhetoric behind us and discuss how technology and innovation are at the forefront of more environmentally responsible energy extraction. This gathering of who's who in energy is about empowering innovation in all forms and hearing from experts who have authority on these issues and can demonstrate what our future could look like."

Keynote speeches from world-class energy innovators, customer panels, networking opportunities, and insights from multiple Enverus' subject matter experts will be featured, including:

The virtual environment has allowed Enverus to expand the invitation to a broader group in the energy industry, as well as media. There is no cost to register or attend this event.

REGISTER NOW

About Enverus Enverus is the leading energy SaaS company delivering highly-technical insights and predictive/prescriptive analytics that empower customers to make decisions that increase profit. Enverus' innovative technologies drive production and investment strategies, enable best practices for energy and commodity trading and risk management, and reduce costs through automated processes across critical business functions. Enverus is a strategic partner to more than 6,000 customers in 50 countries. Enverus is a portfolio company of Genstar Capital. Learn more at Enverus.com.

SOURCE Enverus

http://Enverus.com

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Welcome to EVOLVE: The Energy Innovation Conference - PRNewswire

One of the more concerning events during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the detection and emergence of virus variants.

These variant strains have mutations that slightly alter their genetic code such that they are more readily transmissible, a worrying feature given the issues with control already occurring.

Even more frightening, there is growing evidence that the new variants are more deadly. So far, these variant strains are reported to have originated in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Brazil. Without a doubt, there are many other mutated versions of this coronavirus out there that have yet to be detected.

This was predictable coronaviruses are notoriously lax with their reproduction. Because they are made of RNA, versus the more stable DNA, they are prone to copying mistakes. RNA copying is a bit like ancient monk scribes diligently hand-writing manuscripts; they invariably introduce mistakes compared to the exacting copy-and-paste functions of modern computers, which are more similar to DNA replication.

Lucky mistakes become mutations that offer the virus a better chance at survival through such factors as increased ability to cause infection or easier transmission.

Some scientists have described RNA viruses as quasi-species, where there are so many copy mistakes and resultant mutations that a wide diversity of the virus is biologically capable of survival.

Another familiar example of RNA viruses are influenza viruses. With their vast genetic diversity, influenza viruses can infect birds, pigs and people, with occasional jumps between these host species.

Pathogens are wily foes. The viruses, bacteria and parasite pathogens that infect people and animals continually evolve. If we were to personify them, their mission is to infect the most individuals possible. The more individuals a pathogen infects, the greater chance there is for the pathogen to be selected for better characteristics.

Some scientists have likened the relationship between pathogens and animals to that of a battle. There is a continuous arms race between pathogens and the individuals immune system, each trying to outgun the other.

Most pathogens strike a balance between killing their hosts and making them sick. Pathogens that are too deadly are unlikely to be passed to many other individuals and it is thought that these types gradually lose their pathogenicity in favour of a more mundane existence of causing illness.

The bacteria that causes anthrax is an interesting exception it is highly lethal to cattle but does not spread directly between animals. Instead, it develops exceptionally hardy spores that survive in the soil, lying in wait for its next victim to come along, even if it takes decades.

Some pathogens adapt to their main host so well that they cause little or no clinical disease. But these pathogens can wreak havoc when spread to other susceptible species. An example of this is ovine herpesvirus 2, a virus that causes no disease when it infects sheep hosts. But when it jumps into bison, it can cause the deadly disease malignant catarrhal fever.

The increasing problem of antimicrobial resistance is another excellent example of how pathogens can evolve. In this case, the selection pressure of antibiotic medications has favoured those bacterial strains that have mechanisms to inactivate or otherwise make the medications ineffective. With time, these resistant strains become the predominant pathogen in our animals. The challenges we face with growing antimicrobial resistance are directly linked to the ability of pathogens to evolve.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing virus evolution play out in real time. But the evolution of pathogens has always been with us. The lessons of disease control apply to animal infectious diseases as well and should inspire us to manage animal infections in a serious fashion.

Dr. Jamie Rothenburger, DVM, MVetSc,PhD, DACVP, is a veterinarian who practices pathology and is an assistant professor at the University of Calgarys Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Twitter: @JRothenburger

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Mutated variants part of infectious pathogens' evolution - Western Producer

The English naturalist Charles Darwin was born on this day in 1809. He studied the evolution of turtles in the Galapagos Islands of South America. He came up with the theory that the present man had evolved from apes. At that time, the western world believed that god had made man in his likeness, just as a sculptor sculpts a statue with hammer and chisel. Thus, the Bible says, God created humankind in his own image male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).

Instead, Darwin suggested that there was no intervention by an external entity in the process. Humankind evolved by the process of natural selection. There is a variation in all living species. Some monkeys are supple, others are strong. Those among them that adjusted to the existing environment proliferated, while those that failed to adapt, died. His theory challenged the Biblical concept of God creating mankind.

Darwinism vs the Bible

The opposition to Darwins theory of evolution can be gauged from a discussion held in 1860 between Bishop Samuel Wilberforce and the naturalist Thomas Henry Huxley, a Darwinist, at the University of Oxford. Wilberforce asked Huxley whether he claimed descent from an ape on his grandmothers or grandfathers side? Huxley responded that he would rather be descended from an ape than a man who used his talents to bring ridicule into a serious scientific discussion. The question posed by the Bishop shows that Darwins theory was pitted against the narrative of the Bible.

The issue is equally important for the Hindu religions, although it was apparently not debated at that timeor now. The Vayu Purana says that Brahma created four sets of 1,000 pairs of men and women (8:37-40), just as the Bible says God created humankind. Next, the Bible says, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). In parallel, the Vayu Purana tells of Brahmas five efforts at creation: of demons, gods, man, ancestors, and birds and animals from darkness (9:6).

Hindu parallels

Next, the Bible tells of the creation of Eve from Adams rib. (Genesis 2:21-22). In parallel, the Purana says that Swayambhu and his wife Shatarupa were created by splitting of the body of Brahma (10:7-8). Next, the Bible say that after being expelled from the Garden of Eden, Adam started to till the ground (Genesis 3:23). In parallel, the Vayu Purana says that the trees began to die at one time. People meditated on the matter. Then trees began to grow again in their homes (8:83-90). Therefore, Darwins refuting the Biblical creation of man by God equally refutes the Hindu creation of man by Brahma.

However, this writer would like to believe that Darwin did not actually refute the Bible or the Vayu Purana. The issue hinges on how we understand God or Brahma. Scientists tell us that at one time, the entire universe was contained in a black hole. Then there was a big bang and elements like hydrogen, oxygen, earth, plants, animals and man were created sequentially.

The question arises, where was God or Brahma when the entire universe was contained in the black hole? If we consider that God was in the black hole at that time, then it would follow that God and the universe were the same entity and that God-Universe itself exploded or divided and the world as we know it, came into existence.

'Monist' & 'Monotheist'

In this formula, God is the name of the consciousness of the Universe as contained in the black hole. God is universal consciousness. This possibility matches with the statement in the Upanishads that Brahman thought, I am one, let me be many. This description of God is known as Monist philosophy.

If, on the other hand, God was outside the black hole and he caused the explosion in the black hole, then the question arises: where was God when there was nothing in the universe except the black hole? This description of God is known as Monotheist philosophy.

Be that as it may, if we accept the Monist approach, then the ideas of Darwin, the Bible and the Hindu ideas of the creation of man become consistent with each other. In that case, we may understand that the inner consciousness of the ape caused the ape to evolve and it became man.

Male & female consciousness

In continuation of the above, when the Bible says that God created Eve from Adams rib (Genesis 2:21-22), or the Vayu Purana says that Brahma divided his body of darkness into Swayambhu Manu and his wife Shatarupa; we may understand this as the evolution of the human consciousness into male and female consciousnesses.

Mankind had already been created, according to the Bible and the Vayu Purana. Biblical scholars, such as Nahum M Sarna, author of the JPS Biblical Commentary and David Wenham, author of the Word Biblical Commentary, say that the creation of Eve from Adams rib actually describes the beginning of the institution of marriage. The same idea is encapsulated in the Vayu Purana saying that Shatarupa accepted Swayambhu Manu as her husband.

Darwin represents a fundamental break in the understanding of God. He has caused us to think whether God was an external entity that created man, so to say, with a hammer and a chisel; or whether God was an all-pervasive internal entity that evolved. The road opened by Darwin still needs to be walked on. One key difference in the Abrahamic- and Hindu religions is that the Abrahamic religions think of God as an external entity, while Hindu religions think of Brahman as an internal and all-pervasive entity. The time is at hand to resolve this debate, thanks to Darwin.

The writer is former Professor of Economics, IIM Bengaluru.

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Darwin's theory of evolution got us thinking about our understanding of God, says Bharat Jhunjhunwala - Free Press Journal

Gospel singer, recording artist and Houston native Kathy Taylor

Town Square with Ernie Manouse airs at 3 p.m. CT. Tune in on 88.7FM, listen online or subscribe to the podcast. Join the discussion at 888-486-9677, questions@townsquaretalk.org or @townsquaretalk.

Houston is at the center of gospel music, with singers like five-time Grammy Award winner Yolanda Adams calling it home.

In honor of Black History Month, Houston Public Media aired Lift Up Your Hearts: Houstons Gospel Heritage this past Sunday on News 88.7. The program featured top Houston gospel singers, including Kathy Taylor and Brian Courtney Wilson, and was produced in partnership with KTSU.

Today, we let the music inspire us, as we continue the conversation about music and worship in the Black Church.

Reverend Charles Hudson, Gospel Program Director of KTSU, and Music Professor Jason Oby of Texas Southern University join us to discuss the history of the genre and Houston's role in its evolution. Listeners join the conversation with their questions and comments about gospel music.

On the second half of the show, we also bring you the latest on COVID with Dr. Jill Weatherhead of Baylor College of Medicine.

Guests on the first half are:

Rev. Charles Hudson:

Dr. Jason Oby:

Listen to an encore of Lift Up Your Hearts: Houston's Gospel Heritage on Sun., Feb. 21 at 6am on News 88.7 or online. Find a complete schedule of Houston Public Media's Black History Month programs here.

Guest on the second half is:

Dr. Jill Weatherhead:

Houston Public Media reporter Matt Harab also joins Ernie with headlines from Houston and beyond, including:

*This program originally aired on Mon., Feb. 8, 2021.

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Town Square with Ernie Manouse is a gathering space for the community to come together and discuss the days most important and pressing issues.

Audio from today's show will be available after 5 p.m. CT. We also offer a free podcast here, on iTunes, and other apps.

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Exploring The Evolution Of Gospel Music And Celebrating Houstons Gospel Heritage - Houston Public Media